This invention relates to a geographically sensitive system for noticing lost articles; the invention particularly relates to a system for the prompt notification of lost pets by use of a global computer network.
The loss of one""s personal property, whether by chance or as the result of theft, is often devastating. When the lost item is a living being, for example a child or pet, the loss is catastrophic. While the loss of a child brings together numerous governmental agencies, e.g. police departments, the FBI, fire departments, etc., the loss of a pet fails to send out such a critical alarm, and therefore the response to a pet""s loss is minimal at best.
The statistics pertaining to pet recovery speak for themselves xe2x80x94in the United States alone, there are 112 million dogs and cats, 20% of which, some 22.4 million, will become lost each year. Greater than 50% of these will never be found alive, leaving 11.2 million households grieving for their lost and beloved family friend.
The options available to pet owners are fewxe2x80x94putting up posters, calling individuals familiar with the pet, contacting police stations, etc., however response and rescue time remain most critical. Motor vehicles, euthanasia, predators and starvation claim one of every two pets who never return home. What is lacking is a notification system capable of providing notice to a geographically sensitive area upon discovery of a lost pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,610 describes a system for identifying a lost pet and locating its owner by use of a pet tag or collar having a telephone number and a unique code number imprinted thereon. Information about the pet owner, stored at a central clearing house under the unique number, is retrievable in response to a telephone call from a finder of the pet. This system lacks any ability to alert public or private institutions or individuals regarding the pet""s disappearance, and it certainly does not take into account any information which would enable the selection of a geographic area having a high probability of containing the lost pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,116 is drawn to a method for locating lost pet, person or object. The method describes use of an identification number contained on a card held by the owner and on a tag attached to the item.
The prior art suffers from an inability to distribute an alert regarding the lost pet 1) in a timely fashion, and 2) to an appropriate geographical area, to maximize the probability of recovery.
Therefore, if a method for finding a lost pet could be devised which would alert the appropriate personnel that a particular pet was missing in their location, at that instant in time, a long-felt need in the art would be satisfied.
The present inventor has developed a system which utilizes the technological power provided by the global computer network (xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d) to provide an intelligent and powerful pet notification system for canvassing specific geographical areas in a matter of seconds. By use of an on-line pet interview and active web site engine, a photo e-mail of the lost pet can be distributed instantaneously to reach a large segment of the community, including veterinarians, humane societies, police agencies, TV, Radio stations, churches, synagogues, and a volunteer group of pet lovers who will help owners search for their lost pets in a time of emergency. The notification system has the capability of retaining information about pets and their owners, including photographs. Present technology makes it possible to scale a single system to handle all pets licensed in the United States. Upon notification of the loss of a pet, the system will instantly calculate the geographical location within which the pet is most likely to be present. Using the pet""s home zip code, the system will initiation calculations, based upon the particular size and breed of the pet and an estimate of how long it has been missing, to determine the most appropriate target area for the search.
Utilizing high speed distribution of lost pet photo e-mails, at speeds of about 30,000 per minute; and high speed distribution of emergency phone calls, at speeds of about 10,000 per 15 minutes; the system will utilize the enormous popularity and communicating power of the Global computer network to activate a proactive on-line technology. The system will instantly canvass large geographic areas in seconds, distributing vital information to strategically positioned members of the local pet community in order to reunite the pet and its owner. Up to 400 simultaneous request for registration or emergency pet searches can be handled by the system. Thousands of caring people will be alerted within minutes of notification that an animal is lost, enabling the pet loving community to come together quickly and galvanize their efforts to locate the lost animal.
While the system has been described with respect to a missing pet, it is not limited thereto. The present inventor contemplate the use of the system for finding missing persons, both child and adult, and for finding lost articles or possessions.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to teach a system which utilizes the global computer network to initiate a notification process to help in locating a lost object, particularly a lost pet.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to t provide a method of operating a pet interview and active web site engine via the global computer network, which provides speed, scalability, reliability and security.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to teach a pet notification system which provides for registration of the pet online via inclusion of scanned photographs.
It is a still further objective of the invention teach a system which determines an optimum exposure area for distribution of information regarding the lost animal based upon input of critical data regarding species, time lost and last known location.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.